302 THE BIEDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



brown, with a reddish tint. The ochre rump is found in the female of 

 C, saturatus^ Blanf. ; but the male is different from ours. 



Male. — Crown and upper parts of the body olive-brown, every feather 

 marked with a black shaft-streak. Cheeks, underparts, rump, the upper and 

 under tail-coverts are crimson, lightest on the rump. The feathers of the 

 neck are pointed, and have narrow^ silvery shaft-streaks. Centre of breast 

 dirty white, sometimes with black lines along the feathers. Flanks olive- 

 brown. Forehead and eyebrows silvery rose-colour ; their continuation on 

 the back of the neck pure white ; lores dark crimson ; ear-coverts do not 

 diflPer in colour from the sides of the neck. Quills and tail dark brown, 

 with yellow edges to the feathers. The large wing-coverts are marked with 

 broad yellow edges ; the rose-coloured tips of the central wing-coverts form 

 a red band across the wing ; the small wing-coverts are edged with a dirty 

 crimson ; under wing-coverts white. The front portion of the upper and 

 under tail-coverts have narrow blackish shaft-streaks. 



Female. — Above of the same colour as the male ; but the rump is ochre, 

 with blackish lines. The lower parts of the body are yellowish white, 

 marked with blackish shaft-streaks, w^hich are narrowest on the breast. 

 Eyebrows ochre ; their continuation towards the neck is white. 



We obtained these birds in Ala-shan and Kan-su, in the wooded 

 mountainous districts, usually on plains and in thickets on the shores of 

 rivers, occasionally, also, in the juniper bushes, as high as the alpine 

 regions. The song is very weak ; but the call-note, which it utters on the 

 approach of danger or otherwise, consists of an unpleasant note something 

 like '^ irijj, hrijj^ ^^y}'-" 



The autumnal migration, in Ala-shan, takes place early in October, and 

 the vernal one, in Kan-su, late in April or early in May. Towards the middle 

 of the latter month they had already commenced building, but had no eggs yet. 



The Ala-shan mountain-chain forms the northern limit for this species, 

 as we did not meet with it in the Muni-ul mountains. 



